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I roll to le to my feet like a turtle flipped on to its shell My left ars crowd in around us, rising from the floor Fel screas, scratching at her throat Her face turns red

“Cristo,” Fel barks The attack wavers long enough for the girls to pull their crosses We may not be ready to perform a full exorcism on our own, but we can protect ourselves The floor shakes A sound like cloth ripping rings in my ears The floor splits beneath us I flail as I drop and slah when it enters s

“Oh God They’re trying to break through,” Sacha groans

“We need to hold the veil together” Suddenly the ripping noise makes sense

“It’s not a long-terins

“We need to buy time” I cradle my arm to my body Hooves click on the floor overhead

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“It’s going to take more power than we have,” Sacha says

I find the crack in the barrier they’re squeezing the a seal over the tear, I thrust ically sewing it back together They’re sucked back through as the ic takes hold Sacha and Fel lend me their power to channel into y being run through it I taste the coppery flavor of blood inI sway on s burn

A wet cough rattles inon the other end of the veil lessens I feel their tenuous hold give The banishing is done, for now With the danger passed, I let go Light explode beneathme before my consciousness fails me

Chapter Fourteen

“Are you sure you’re up for this ?” Fel asks

A few days after the attack, I’ antibiotics for an acute case of bacterial infection that set inpumped with powerfulI could use a week of recovery at the least, but the Djinn aren’t going to wait, so we can’t afford to either

“I’m a fast healer, and we don’t have the luxury of time on our side”

“Where’s your jailer? This is the farthest away I’ve seen him since you were in the hospital,” Sacha says